Gun port mounting



Jul 3, 1945.

A. H. HEINEMAN 2,379,710

GUN PORT MOUNTING 1 Filed Sept. 18, 1943 Patented July 3, 1945 GUN PORT MOUNTING Arnold H. Heineman, Chicago, Illqassignor to The Guardite Corporation,- a corporation of 11- j linois Application September 18, 1943; Serial No. 502,909 g 7' Claims. (Cl. 73- 167) This invention relates to a gun port mounting and. more particularly to a means for mounting a gun, particularly a gun of high calibre, within a test chamber in such manner that the muzzle of the gun may be outside of thechamber while providing a seal which is air tight and which will hold even during firing and recoil of the gun. 1

Owing :to' the diverse weather conditions which modern artillery may encounter, it has become desirable to test .the operation of guns of all types within test chambers wherein the working parts may be subjected to extremes of temperature and pressure, ranging from the highest temperatures which may be encountered, to temperatures far below zero, to varying conditions of humidity, and to pressures as low as may be encountered in the highest airplane flight.

It is of course desirable to fire the guns under these conditions, and since the chambers are relatively small and the conditions therein would be upset by the firing of artillery within the chamber, even if no shell were employed, it is desirable that the muzzle of the gun be outside of the chamber. It is also desirable that the barrel of the gun be left free to move during recoil, The present invention provides a port within which guns having barrels of difierent sizes may readily be mounted without destroying the conditions within the chamber and leaving the gun free to recoil upon firing.

The invention is illustrated in the drawing in which Fig. 1 represents a sectional elevation of a portion of a test chamber through the gun port; Fig. 2 represents an enlarged sectional view of the port, corresponding to Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line 3- 3 in Fig, 2.

' As shown in the drawing, the test chamber It! contains a port ll through which the barrel l2 of the gun l3 protrudes into the concussion chamber 50 which is joined to the test chamber by the expansion joint 5|. The base I4 of the gun is firmly afiixed to the base of the test chamber. Means are provided (not shown) for evacuating the chamber, for admitting air thereto, and for varying the humidity and temperature there- The gun port which is shown in greater detail in Fig. 2 comprises a retainer ring l5 which is welded to the wall of the port II. On each side of the retainer ring is a flanged member l6 held in position by the bolts IT. The flange I8 on each of the members 16 is internally directed to hold in place the annular packing material far as suitable to the rear.

l9. Within the retainer ring is a hollowrecoil cylinder 20 having its innersurface Zl' carefully machined and having on its outer side an annu-- lar boss "22 which extends into the chamber for-med by the retainer ring i5 and the two flanged members 16. g p

Inside of the recoil cylinder is a stuflingbox cylinder 25 which is provided on itsouter surface with at least two ring grooves 26 within which are mounted piston rings 21, suitably lubricated. One side of the inner portion orthej stuffing'box chamber is cut away in the ordinary fashion to provide a packing chamber 28 of considerable depth. Within this chamber is mounted a gasket 29 having on each side thereof fibre washer (iii. The gasket and washers are packedin position by the gland 3'! which may be operated by the gland screws '32. n The gasket 29 and the washers 30 are annu-' lar in form and their inner diameter is such as to bind tightly upon the gun barrel 12. The closure apparatus may be adapted for gun barrels of various sizes by substitution of gasket and washersof suitable size. p v

The stuffing cylinder may be held in place upon the gun barrel by the arrangement shown at the right of Figure 2. This comprises a clamping ring 40 which may be spaced from the stuffing cylinder 25 by any suitable means such as the adjusting bolts 4|. The clamping ring 40 has an internal diameter greater than the internal diameter of the stufling box chamber 28. The clamping ring may be secured to the gun barrel by the use of a series of wedges 42 which are driven between the ring and the gun barrel. It is understood that a series of wedges having various entering thicknesses may be employed for v use on guns of various sizes.

The operation of the port will readily be un-.

derstood from the foregoing description. The clamping ring-stufiing cylinder assembly is first slipped over the muzzle of the gun and located as The washer 30. followed by the gasket 29 and a second Washer 30 are then placed in position followed by the gland 3| which may be tightened at any desired stage. It is preferred that the recoil cylinder be left permanently upon the stufling cylinder due to the difiiculty of inserting piston rings. This entire assembly may be placed upon the barrel at one time by removal of the outer flanged member 16 and the corresponding packing. The recoil cylinder may be secured in position by replacing the packing and the flanged member IS. The inner flanged member l6 and the corresponding packing are of course in position'before insertion of the recoil cylinder. The wedges 42 are then driven into place to lock the entire assembly on the gun barrel, this not being done, however, until the gun has been secured in its position within the test chamber.

The annular boss 22 provides a limited uniexists between the outside and the inside of the plane. In such cases lock or other means should be provided in connection with the breech of the gun for loading. Such equipment is not necessary in the test chamber which may be reevacuated after each round.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. A seal for a gun barrel comprising a stufling box secured to the barrel, said box including pack+ ing, a gland, and a stuffing box cylinder, the outer surface of the cylinder being provided with at least two ring grooves a piston ring in each ring groove; and a recoil cylinder enclosing the stufling box and having an inner surface bearing on the piston rings, said recoil cylinder being adapted to be sealed in a wall provided with a port.

2. A seal as set forth in claim 1, in which the recoil cylinder is provided with an annular boss and said boss is movably sealed within a retaining ring.

3. A seal as set forth in claim 1, in which the stufling box is provided with a clamping ring secured to the stuffing box, said ring having an internal diameter larger than the gun barrel and said clamping ring being secured to the gun barrel by a wedge.

4. A seal adapted for sealing gun barrels of variable outer dimensions within a port in a test chamber wall, comprising a stufling cylinder hav ing an internal diameter greater than the external diameter of the largest gun barrel to be sealed, a

stuffing chamber within the stufiing cylinder adapted to contain packing, and a gland associated therewith and adapted to compress the packing upon a gun barrel and the stufling cylinder, said stufiing cylinder being provided with at least two external ring grooves.

5. A seal adapted for sealing gun barrels of variable outer dimensions within a port in a test chamber wall, comprising a stufiing cylinder having an internal diameter greater than the external diameter of the largest gun barrel to be sealed, a stuiiing chamber within the stufling cylinder adapted to contain packing, a gland associated therewith and adapted to compress the packing upon a gun barrel and the stufiing cylinder, said stuffing cylinder being provided with at least two external ring grooves, piston rings in each of said ring grooves, and a recoil cylinder enclosing the stuffing box and having an inner surface bearing on the piston rings.

6. A seal as set forth in claim 5, in which the recoil cylinder is provided with a ring boss on its outer surface adapted to be sealed for limited universal movement in a test chamber port.

7. In combination with a hermetically sealed container including a wall having an aperture through which the barrel of a gun being tested is adapted to extend, a seal for said barrel, comprising a stuffing box secured to the barrel, said box including packing, a gland and a stuffing. box cylinder, the outer surface of the cylinder being provided with at least two ring grooves; a piston ring in each groove; and a recoil cylinder enclosing the stuffing box and having an inner surface bearing on the piston rings and an outer surface in sealing engagement With the edges of said aperture.

ARNOLD H. HEINEMAN 

